Chocolate-heating appabatits



J. G. ROTE.

CHOCOLATE HEATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATIONYFILED AUG.29. 1912.

1,304,101, I Patented May 20, 1919.

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Ira/676C272 John 6220 he .9 W *K aiiarrzgyx J. G. ROTE.

CHOCOLATE HEATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION men wen/19. 1918.

1,304,101; v Patented May 20, 1919.

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John 6:302?

'1 M"" 1 a Z 20 rhqys ample', be 89 Yet if the chocolate beSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 20, 1919.

' Application filed August 29 191$. Serial No. 251,922.

To all tvhomz't may concern: Be it known that I, JOHN G. Korma citizen.of the United States,

residing at 88 Townsend road, Belmont, in the county of Middlesex andState of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Chocolate-Heating Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

apparatus for handling chocolate. More particularly it relates toapparatus for the manufacture of candies known as chocolates, in which acenter of sugar, jelly, nut or other material, simple or composite, isby machinery coated with chocolate. The invention, which. is illustratedas it may be applied to an enrobing machine, relates especially to themeans for keeping the chocolate suitably fluid and withina pre--determined narrow range of temperature.

In the practice of this art, the chocolate has to be raised to a certaintemperature, to have proper fluidity, or else chocolate will flow aroundthe center in too thick a layer, involving both too great weight for thepiece, and too weight. This temperature may, for exralsed more than 4above this it will be too fluid, too much will' run oil from thecenters, and also, if heated too much, the cocoa butter in it willbecome separated from the narily available.

cocoa so that on ooolin the product will have a gray aspect, unsuitablefor first quality sales, with incidental loss. Another limitationresults from the fact that at a temperature of 145 F. more or less,chocolate caramelir'es; and so for good work it is neces-' sary not as,heat the walls of the container above the temperature of caramelization.No apparatus heretofore employed to maintain temperature within thepermissible range has proven satisfactory, so far as I amaware, nor hasthere been any that is operable at all to attain the desiredendsuccesfully without a closeness of attention and a degree ofskill whichare not ordi- For the above purposes the best modern practice hithertohas been to heat a broad area 9i tankwall by means forts are'made tocontrol This invention relates to improvements 1n great cost for theaggregate mersed in the mersed in t e of a water jacket maintained justunder the caramelizing temperature of 145% As this is well above the 93at which the chocolate is too thin, and also is above the tempera tureat'which the butter separates, constant care must be exercised toprevent the chocolate from getting too'hot. To this end efthetemperature of the jackets pipes carrying by heating steam, and bycooling pipes carrying cold water, either of which can be used at will.Yet the troubles continue. I have discovered that this is because of theheat capacity of the jacket. This continues to impart heat fora time, tochocolate whose temperature has already reached the permissible limit,before the corrective effect of a substitution of cold water flow forsteam flow has reduced the jacket temperature enough to stop the risingchocolate temperature. By my present improvement, I reverse thedirection of flow of heat. I use the water jacket as a medium intowhich,heat flows in all directions from the chocolate. The jacket may beused initially to heat .the chocolate, with the heat flowing from it tothe chocolate as heretofore, but after the chocolate approaches itsnormal heat, the

jacket ceases to perform this function; steam is shut 011' from it; andthe jacket falls in temperature to below that of the chocolate andmaintains whatever degree of temperature naturally occurs as it receivesheat steadily from the chocolate and transfers it by conduction,radiation, or otherwise to the atmosphere. This flow of heat originatesin 'an auxiliary heating arrangement imchocolate, capable of reachingonly a limited non-caramelizing temperature, and having practically nocapacity for storing heat. Under these circumstances, if a suitableheater be chosen, such as a wire heated by electricity, the flowof heatinto the chocolate can be stopped at any instant. The temperature of thechocolate then immediately ceases to rise. It instantly, in fact, begins-to fall, because of the continuing outflow "of heat into the jacket.- Athermostat' having its controlling member imchocolate, or otherwisesuitlimited to an enrobing machine,

.used for illustration.

of 4 The particular heater preferred 'gion when it is immersed inchocolate.

of chocolate,

approximately the ably placed, can be used to turn ofi the heat,

thus; and to turn it on again as soon as the temperature of thechocolate has fallen a predetermined amount, which may be a degree ortwo. Thus the temperature of the whole of the chocolate can be kepteasily and automatically withinthe narrow range consists of a coil ofwire heated by an electric current to the temperature of about 120, the

coil being of such electrical resistance, of-

such length, and having such a voltage applied to its terminals as will,produce in it this temperature'through an extensive re- In designingapparatus, these features can all be easily predetermined. Therelatively higher temperature of the wire becomes quickly dissipated inthe surrounding mass should flow in at a outflow to the jacket. Thisdepends upon the temperature gradientbetween the chocolate and thejacket, and between the jacket and the atmosphereyand it may vary fromtime to time. Hence provision is made for a considerable number 'ofunitsof immersed heaters, more or less of which may be. used together,intermittently,

if necessary, under the thermostatic control. I

The invention may be applied in various ways, and it isnot to beunderstood asbeing which is v It is intended-that the patent shallcover, by .suitable'expression in the appended claims, whatever featuresof patentable novelty exist in the in- 'vention disclosed.

. In. the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1is anoelevation of a part of the machine embodying the inventionin section.

' across the axis of the mixing-mechanism therein;

' Fig. 2 is'a medial elevation'of' the same in section along the axisofthe mixingele- Fig. 3. is' fragmentary view of eaten, showing theelectric heating elements on a 1 larger scale; and

Fig. 4 is a diagram of the machine and heat controlling features.

.Referringto the drawlngs, 10 indicates a chocolate holding tank withbottom of the operation of the of constant motion,

. in it,..and is drawn up out of the tank 10 to.the upper part of themachine, by means not shown, whence it flows down in abroad stream upona wire screen conveyor carry and does'no harm; and the heat ,3sufficient rate to equal so immersed.-

' of Advance or straps 18 into the-hollow c bestate, is kept in a stateing centers. which are to .be enrobed or coated. The excess whichdoesnot adhere to them drains of? and passes back into the tank 10. Asthese elementsof the en'rober are not part of the inventiomand as theinvention' may be used with different elements,

they are not shown nor further described.

herein. Them-aintenance of the chocolate at a proper degree of fluidity,by maintaining it at a proper temperature in the tank 10 is Y theprincipal object-of the present. invention.

For making any considerable rise in' the temperature of the chocolate,the steam pipe 14 and the water jacket in 't'ank 12 may be used; butwhen the chocolate has been raised.

to approximately theidesired temperature,"

steam should be shut off; and thereafter the temperature of water "intank-l2 may be neglected.

' Within olate, are a number of electric heaters, each comprlsing a barewire 16 arranged in coils of a certain length, predetermined aca certainpredetermined temperature when the tank 10, immersed in the chocs5cording to conditions, and operated by a predeterminedvoltage, so as toapproximate '90 For example, it is computed that 150 ft.

Nicrome wire of 16 B.

S. gage, having 110 volts atits terminals i and immersed in'thechocolate will rise to a temperature approximating 120. Sucha Wire maybefwound onanins'ulating carrier, for example, on a fibertube .-1n whosesurface a screw thread has beencut, the wire being laidin 'thetrough ofthe thread. There may be two of such tubesarranged side by side at asuitable distance apart and connected in series in which case the termi-'nals may be at the same end of the tank.

Any variations needed,*eithe rto suit particular conditions, or toattain a desired re- -1 sult, may be determined by co1 nputation or bysimple experimentalvarlation. Such a wire carrier .and' its 'w re, or

carrier is marked 15, the resistance wire wound upon it 16, and metalyokes, one .for

v V such a icon-s 'nectedpair, constitute what isqherein referred to asa single heating unit. The fiber holding the carrier ends ateach endofi-the'j Y tank, are" marked 18. These tubular carrier-s'or holders areconveniently held by small bolts 17 which rejea through the enters ofthe fiber carriers at each end.

his arrangement,

the heating units may 'be--.spaced as desired around. the walls ofthejjtank, one spacing being indicated in Fig.1. .In heater terminalsmay be brought' up through the liquid to the top' for connection totheelectric circuits as indicated in the wiring diagram,

trated, Fig. 3, the two ends of the-heating each case, the

Fig; L In the form illusunit, separated bymaximum 'difleren'ce ofpotential, are relatively near together; and if it should be found inany case that the leakage of electricity is so atas to be undesirable,the wiring may that. the'terminals are atopposite ends of the tank, withthe entire length of the tank and resistance thereof between the'maximum diiference of potential. In that case, each carrier if madetwice as large in diameter would hold in its own single length wirerequisite.

The wiring and electric circuits may be variously arranged, butin-general it is better to have a switch 19 which may be manuallyoperated between each heating unit and the main wires 20'which supplycurrent to them, so that at will any of the heating units may bedisconnected. Y

The main wires 20 contain a switch 21 adapted to be operatedautomatically by a thermostat 22 either to make or to break the circuitthrough such heating units as are connected by switches 19.

having a bulb 24 on the The thermostat may be of any suitable style, andmay be connected by-any suitable arrangement of. wiring and device forcontrolling the switch 21. Preferably the thermostat may be of a mercuryactuated type end of. a flexible tube, calibrated to be correct when thebulb and perhaps a portion of the tube are immersed in the'chocolate,and being set in that portion thereof which is near the discharge, whichin this case is by an elevating device, resembling a wheel (Fig'sl, 2).If preferred, however, it might be placed in a stream or body of theliquid which has already been discharged and is about to be used. Anarrangement by which the thermostat may control the heatmg circuit isshown diagrammaticall and for the sake of simplicity is represented asin a shunt 23 across the main circuit. The thermostat indicated is ofelemental type in which there is a scale 26 and a lower temperaturelimit post a pointer 29 whose position is moved by the changes oftemperature, but which, when it makes contact with the lower limit postpermits a current to flow through coil 27 thus attracting the armatureof the switch 21, and closing that switch. The switch may beso arrangedas to be held closed by gravity, a retaming spring, or by other wellknown means, until the temperature inter 29 has swung along the scaleand ma e contact with the upperlimit post 28, whena current flowsthrough the coil" 28' and throws the ,switch 21 open. The heating unitshave the peculiarity that their tem-.

her thanthe veryperature is really not big I lowtemp'erature at whichchocolate may caramelize. The wires carrying it are practically deyo dof heat holding capacity.

arranged so as mediately to an known,

an upper temperature limit post 28, and.

Hence the inflow of heat to the chocolate ceases almost instantaneouslwith the stoppin of the current by the t ermostat. But .t e chocolatecontinues to lose heat to'the surrounding jacket, the temperature of thechocolate immediately begins to fall. -When the circuit is re-made bythe thermostat, it instantly begins to rise, assuming that enoughheating units are connected to equal or exceed the rate of heat losses,because the heating wires are in the midstof the chocolate, and becomeinstantly of higher temperature than the chocolate. It is, therefore,only-necessary to set the thermostat with its limitin pointers atpredetermined figures, within t e'permissible range of variation oftemperature of the chocolate, (exaggerated in the drawing, for'clearness) to produce a'condition in which a temperature variationextending to the point indicated by either pointer, subjects thechocolate imefi'ective corrective influence.

Whether the correction thus applied shall be adequate will-depend ofcourse upon the rate of flow of heat out from the chocolate into the ja'cket as compared withthe rate of flow of heat into the chocolate fromthe immersed-wires. As the temperature of boththe jacket and thechocolate can be measured independently, and the difference it ispossible to raise the temperature of the jacket by a. small flow ofsteam, if

needed, to make this teinperature difference relatively small; and inthat case but-little inflow of electric current ply an amount equal tothat which flows out, and so as to keep ture to the desired point.lVhile it is desirable that that inflow be gradual and. constant, and tothat'end means is provided by the switch group 25 to reduce the rate atwhich inflow occurs when it occurs atall, the proper average of inflowwill be maintained by the thermostat'automatically. The use of. theswitch group 25 is, that if the operator observes that the temperaturedifference between the chocolate and the jacket is small, more of themmay be opened, in

.which case they electric current-will flow for a greater proportion ofthe wholetime than if a greater number were closed. As a measis neededto sup- 4 up the chocolate temperaure of absolute security, the steammay be turned ofl. altogether when the jacket temperature has reachedthat of the atmosphere 1n the :The jacket will then be subject'to inflowof heat from the chocolate and it may be applied with electricity as themedium for introducing t e heat directly to outflow into the atmosphere,and will-- and safelyto the chocolate, it willbe apparent that someother form of direct heater with thermostatic control might be used. Itis also manifest that although the invention has been particularlydeveloped for application to chocolate, which is used here to illustrateit, it might be applied to other lmaterial without departing from thescope of the' invention. I

I claim asmy invention I v 1. Apparatus for maintaining a regulartemperaturein liquid chocolate, comprising a tank for the chocolate; ajacket of water therefor, of a lower temperature than that a tank forthechocolate; a jac st of water therefor, of a lower temperature than that'of said chocolate; means independent of the jacket for' introducingheat into the chocolate at a rate exceeding the rate of flow from it tothe said jacket and its-other heat losses; a thermostatic device.controlling the said inflow of heat; means whereby said rate of inflowmay be adjusted to approximate andslightly to exceed, while notinterrupted,-

, said outflow and other losses.

3. Apparatus for maintaining a regular temperature 1 liquid chocolate,comprising a tank for the chocolate; 3, jacket of water therefor, of alower temperature than that I of said chocolate, arranged to withdrawheattherefrom continuously; means independent of the jacket forintermittently introducing heat into the chocolate; and a thermo staticdevice controlling the said inflow of I heat.-

' adj having temperature in AQApparatus for maintaining a regulartemperature in liqui having a regular of a lower temperature than thatofsaid chocolate, arranged to withdraw heat therefrom continuously;means independent of the jacket for intermittently introducing heat intoa testb11110 arranged in the-liquid at its point of outflow and adaptedto control the said inflow of heat.

5. Apparatus for maintaining. a regular liquid chocolate, comprising 'atank for the chocolate; a jacket of water device controlling the flow ofcur-rent to I therefor, of'a' lower temperature than that bf saidchocolate; an electric heater 1mmersedin the chocolate; and athermostatic said heater.

6. Chocolate heatin apparatus, comprising the combination-0 a tank forthe chooochocolate, comprising I atank for the chocolate,

ofdischarge thereof; a jacket of water I thechocolate; and a thermostatlate; a jacket of water therefor; means to heat the water to atemperature higher than the chocolate and to cut off said heat, allowmgit to fall to a temperature lower than that of the chocolate; meansindependent thereof for heating the chocolate; and a .thermostaticdevice operated by the temperature of the liquid, chocolate, andcontrolling said second heating means.

Y 7. Apparatus for maintaining a regular temperature in liquidchocolate, comprising, a tank for the chocolate; a jacket of watertherefor, of a lower temperature than that of said chocolate; meansindependent thereof to introduce heat to a restricted locality of thechocolate; a mixing device adapted to keep the chocolate constantly incirculation; and a thermostatic device controlled by thetemperature ofthe chocolate at a place remote both from the jacket and from saidindependent heating. device, and controlling saidindependent inflow ofheat. 8. Apparatus for maintaining a regular temperature in liquidchocolate, comprlsing a tank for the chocolate; means whereby heatcontinuously flows out from the tank;

a-source of heat within the tank'having a temperature notexceedin-g thecaramelizetion temperature of the chocolate; and a thermostatic devicecontrolled by the temperature of the chocolate at a point removed fromsaid heating means, and controlling the inflow of heat therethrough. I

91 Chocolate heating apparatus, comprising a tank for the chocolate,arranged to lose heat continuously; an electric heater immersed in theliquid chocolate in the tank,

. and having a temperature above that of the mass of chocolate, and nothigher carameli-zation temperature thereof.

than the 10. Apparatus for heating chocolate, comprisin where y a tankfor the chocolate; means it continuously loses heat; a multiplicity ofelectric heaters immersed therein, 1

comprising long" coils of resistance wire held at a low' temperature,higher than that of the chocolate; means to disconnect individualcoilsat will; and'a thermostatic controlling device for the connectedcoils, controlled by the temperature of the .chocolate.

11. Heating apparatus for chocolate, come prising a tank for thechocolate; a water jacket therefor; heating means for the water jacket;a plurality of individual heaters for the chocolate independentofthe-jacket; and means to put some ofthem out of action at will; andmeans to cut off said-heating means of the jacket.

12. Apparatus temperature in liquid chocolate, comprising ;a tank forthe chocolatearranged to undergo loss of heat continuously; means forheatfor maintaining a regular ing the chocolate within the tank havingpractically no heat capacityy'and control means for the heat generatingmeans whereby the introduction of heat to the chocolate ceases with thecutting off of said heat generation. V v 7 13. Apparatus for maintaininga regular 5Jtemperature in liquid chocolate, comprising a tankior thechocolate; means providing continuous outflow of heat therefrom; meanshaving practically no heat-capacity for providing intermittent inflow ofheat into the chocolate; and thermostatic means control- 10 ling theintermittent feature of said flow, and controlled by the temperatureofsaid chocolate.

